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The present invention relates generally to flag accessories, holders and brackets, and more particularly, to a holder which can be attached over the rail of vinyl or wood fences. During festive times and national holidays, it is desirable to display flags of many sorts. There are many various patents for flag holding devices, but most are for the standard 3xe2x80x2xc3x975xe2x80x2 or 4xe2x80x2xc3x976xe2x80x2 flags and have not focused on the smaller flags, banners or pennants such as the memorial size flag (12xe2x80x3xc3x9716xe2x80x3) or smaller. The standard size flags and flag holders look out of place when used on fences as they are too large. Most available flag holders require holes to be drilled on to the surface to which they are attached, but owners of vinyl fences usually do not want holes drilled into the vinyl surface, therefore leaving them with no practical means to attach flags to the fence, other than with duct tape, or other means which are not aesthetically pleasing.
The present flag holder is detachably mounted over the rail of the fence by means of a u-shaped hook, allowing the flag, banner, or pennant to be displayed at special times of the year without damaging the surface of the fence, and to be removed easily for storage when not in use.
Various patents have proposed different methods of displaying flags by attaching them to flat surfaces, by means of drilling holes into the surface and attaching with screws or other fasteners. U.S. Pat. No. Re. 35,731 to Lach, describes a flag pole bracket which must be attached to a flat surface by means of screws. U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,856 to Neely and Shriner describes a rail bracket flag holder, but this application merely provides a base to attach a conventional flag holder with bolts and wing nuts. Other previous patents for flag holders include U.S. Pat. No. 466,960 to Bert and Widmayer, U.S. Pat. No. 1,053,255 to Ward, U.S. Pat. No. 1,198,840 to Hanck and David, U.S. Pat. No. 1,632,726 to Conklin, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,914,278 to Burke. However none of these apply directly to attaching the holder to a fence rail. A design for a flag pole assembly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,608 to Burke also requires a bracket to be attached with screws to the desired surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,207 to Adamaitis describes a flag holder attached to a pole or a tree by means of straps, but this would be impractical for use on fence rails.
Patents for attaching decorative articles for display by means of hooking them over a door or a rail include U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,517 to Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,030 B1 to Hepworth, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,365 to Catanzarite et al, but these relate to articles which are suspended from the device, rather than inserted into a sheath, such as a flag staff.
The present invention is a holder used to display smaller sized flags, banners or pennants on the rail of vinyl or wood fences without defacing or devaluing the surface of the fence, due to using a u-shaped hook to attach the holder to the fence. It is an objective of the present invention to be easily mounted or dismounted for display and storage purposes. It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a fence flag holder that is easy to use, stable, durable and reliable. It is a further objective of the present invention to be made of one-piece molded (ABS) durable plastic material which is aesthetically pleasing and simple in appearance and which will last for years of use. The fence flag holder can be produced in various colors to match the different colors of fences.